TV viewers are no stranger to bleeped swear words in their favorite shows, but there’s always a double-take when F-bombs slip past the censors. It may now be intentional, as USA and Syfy are relaxing language standards on mature series – the sign of a coming trend.

Use of an un-bleeped F-word is still somewhat rare on broadcast and cable TV. Adult shows like AMC’s Mad Men and Breaking Bad dipped audio on the word, while FX occasionally allows uncensored usage in shows like The People v. O.J. Simpson. BuzzFeed inquired about more recent examples in USA’s Mr. Robot and Syfy’s The Magicians, and found a surprising change in policy. Executives confirmed that the mandate of dipping audio on F-bombs remained in place until 2017, but was changed for uses “deemed important to the style or plot of a show.”

Cable networks like USA and Syfy aren’t technically beholden to FCC regulations regardless, and need only worry whether advertisers are comfortable associating their brands with a show’s content. In instances of uncensored F-words, cable programs display a TV-MA rating for adult content.